This is one in a series on careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics made possible by support from the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

Discouraging polar bears from joining you for breakfast, avoiding hippos that might bite you in two and learning to bathe in caiman-infested rivers are not part of a scientist’s traditional job description. But if you’re a field researcher — someone who gets out of the lab to collect and analyze data — you may want to master some of these skills...